Ruger RPR barrel swap help

[lord of war619]

I know there is a RPR thread but it has 61 pages, so hoping to get a quick response from some more experienced RPR owners a little quicker, picked up a New gen 2 308. along with a PVA 6.5 cm barrel, Im looking for advice on what to buy to do the barrel swap, vice, gauges etc.. and where to buy them. Also anyone using the PVA barrel nut? As far as the vice i dont want anything too fancy its probably going to sit there forever after the swap, thanks in advance

 

[Shadow_Warrior]

When I did the swap I looked at a few youtube videos that were very helpful.

 

[clcustom1911]

AR barrel wrench, piece of leather, aluminum vise jaws, Heavy bench vise, dead-blow hammer with plastic striking surface, anti-seize, headspace gouges (go, no-go), assorted feeler gauge shims for setting proper headspace according to manufacture specs.... Uhhh. I think thats about it.

Make rifle safe. Disassemble rifffle, but barrel in leather, clamp in vise, place AR wrench on barrel nut, whack that fucker (wrench) with the dead blow at least 10-12" from the barrel nut.....

If action and barrel rotate whilst whacking, clamp tighter.... Proceed with aforementioned whacking...

Once barrel nut is loose, you good. Remove barrel. Coat barrel threads in anti-seize lightly, or you favorite barrel grease (I use Militec-1 and a tie bit of anti-seize).

Place barrel nut on new barrel and spin until it bottoms out on the barrel flange.

Spin new barrel into action, or spin action onto barrel if barrel is clamped in vise. Whatever floats your boat.

Once close, put bolt into action, put "go" headspace gauge under extractor. Run bolt with gauge and close the bolt down....

Per may barrel manufacturer I used (Proof research) the recommended I place a .003" piece of shim between the bolt face and headspace gauge. And I did. You will feel when you have the headspace tight enough as you are tightening on the barrel on to the headspace gauge. Preliminarily tighten down the barrel nut and insert the no-go gauge. As long as it does not close on the no-go gauge you are all set to reassemble. Whack the barrel wrench a couple times with the dead blow hammer and you should have applied at least 50 or 60 foot pounds of torque to the barrel nut. Or you can be fancy and use a torque wrench.

You're welcome

 

[RPR300WM]

FYI. For those of you with the Magnum RPR, Ruger told me that the factory barrel nut torque is 150 ftlbs. Now if I could just find a match barrel for the .300 win mag RPR.

 

[lord of war619]

thanks any recommendations on which tools and where to get them, cheapest vise i see is a wheeler at $65, go no go $60, I have a heavy duty ar wrench

 

[lord of war619]

AR barrel wrench, piece of leather, aluminum vise jaws, Heavy bench vise, dead-blow hammer with plastic striking surface, anti-seize, headspace gouges (go, no-go), assorted feeler gauge shims for setting proper headspace according to manufacture specs.... Uhhh. I think thats about it.

Make rifle safe. Disassemble rifffle, but barrel in leather, clamp in vise, place AR wrench on barrel nut, whack that fucker (wrench) with the dead blow at least 10-12" from the barrel nut.....

If action and barrel rotate whilst whacking, clamp tighter.... Proceed with aforementioned whacking...

Once barrel nut is loose, you good. Remove barrel. Coat barrel threads in anti-seize lightly, or you favorite barrel grease (I use Militec-1 and a tie bit of anti-seize).

Place barrel nut on new barrel and spin until it bottoms out on the barrel flange.

Spin new barrel into action, or spin action onto barrel if barrel is clamped in vise. Whatever floats your boat.

Once close, put bolt into action, put "go" headspace gauge under extractor. Run bolt with gauge and close the bolt down....

Per may barrel manufacturer I used (Proof research) the recommended I place a .003" piece of shim between the bolt face and headspace gauge. And I did. You will feel when you have the headspace tight enough as you are tightening on the barrel on to the headspace gauge. Preliminarily tighten down the barrel nut and insert the no-go gauge. As long as it does not close on the no-go gauge you are all set to reassemble. Whack the barrel wrench a couple times with the dead blow hammer and you should have applied at least 50 or 60 foot pounds of torque to the barrel nut. Or you can be fancy and use a torque wrench.

You're welcome

I have watched a few you tube video and have a idea all the things I need, I think my question is which ones to buy that arent going to break the bank, I dont see myself using these items often probably a few years before i shoot out the PVA barrel so is it worth the investment or is it more logical to send it to LRI and pay the $100 for the barrel swap

 

[clcustom1911]

I have watched a few you tube video and have a idea all the things I need, I think my question is which ones to buy that arent going to break the bank, I dont see myself using these items often probably a few years before i shoot out the PVA barrel so is it worth the investment or is it more logical to send it to LRI and pay the $100 for the barrel swap

If you're not going to use the tools multiple times, it could be worth it to send it off to a professional. Especially if it's $100. The tooling will cost you over that, as you already know.

 

[Codiekfx400]

The Viper barrel vise is what I use it seems to
Work really well.

 

[clcustom1911]

The Viper barrel vise is what I use it seems to
Work really well.

I bought one of those to do my barrel swap. Ended up not needing it.

 

[buffybuster]

The hardest part will be getting the old barrel nut off. Some easy, some not so.

 

[Bender]

LRI is king. Just let them do it if it’s only once.

 

[lord of war619]

LRI is king. Just let them do it if it’s only once.

sounds like the logical option. I dont mine buying tools if i plan to use them often but not in the business of building bolt guns nor do I shoot out barrels once a year, a rough estimate puts me at $200 worth of tools that gets me a barrel install, shroud and fluted bolt if I go to LRI, do they install other barrels since mine is a PVA

 

[Bender]

sounds like the logical option. I dont mine buying tools if i plan to use them often but not in the business of building bolt guns nor do I shoot out barrels once a year, a rough estimate puts me at $200 worth of tools that gets me a barrel install, shroud and fluted bolt if I go to LRI, do they install other barrels since mine is a PVA

Well.. lol they probably would. But LRI makes their own barrels too, I would contend they are better, but actually just as good as PVA. But LRI is guaranteed fast turnaround. They set the standard for fast. And done right the first time.

 

[lord of war619]

thanks for everyone's help, I think in my case it might be a better option to go LRI route and skip the additional of more tools though I love new tools, I will let the pros handle it, I got a great deal on the barrel or else I would have bought theirs, I didnt see a RPR barrel service on PVA site or i would use them too, but i did hear LRI is fast

 

[bfglowkey]

A penny to think on:

I was in your boat and since I like doing my own work and I figured once I have the tools I can just buy multiple barrels and make my RPR a 308, 6.5 or a 6 Creed depending on what I decide I am doing with it. Once you take the 1-2 hours to do it slow and steady and right you can barrel swap and have 3 different guns in 15 mins of elbow grease. Makes the tools worth it and like I said...now I have 3 different choices and one platform that feels the same and allows me to really get my marksmanship to the realm I desire.

LRI for the record is amazing.

 

[Blaster7Romeo]

LRI will do the barrel swap for $100 .. I would just buy a barrel from them and let them put it in ..

https://www.longriflesinc.com/produ...ces-ruger-rpr-barrel-removal-and-installation